Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

ARMED FORCES PRACTICE COUNTERATTACK AT TAICHUNG HARBOR

ROC Central News Agency

2007-05-16 22:17:56

    Taipei, May 16 (CNA) Armed forces honed counterattack skills and tactics at Wharf No. 2 of Taichung Harbor in central Taiwan Wednesday as part of the ongoing Han Kuang 23 combined services military exercises.

    More than 500 army, air force and marine personnel were mobilized for the combat drill, as well as dozens of aircraft and combat vehicles, missiles and artillery.

    The troops performed various combat strategies in response to a simulated attack by Chinese airborne and special forces troops attempting to seize the port prior to an invasion.

    Government units, including the Taichung Harbor Bureau, the city police and firefighting departments, the Coast Guard Administration and coastal patrol units, also took part in the exercise.

    The four-day live-fire Han Kuang 23 exercise began a day earlier with three types of air force jet fighters -- the U.S.-built F-16, the French Mirage 2000-5 and the locally developed Indigenous Defense Fighter -- practicing emergency landings and takeoffs on a freeway in western Taiwan.

    It marked the first time in 29 years the three types of fighters, which form the backbone of the air force, demonstrated their skills at the same time.

    The live-fire wargames, staged in Penghu, Changhua, Yilan, Hsinchu, Taichung and Pingtung, are the largest in terms of areas covered and number of participants involved.

    The Taichung Harbor drill was directed by Army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Chao Shih-chang and witnessed by over 500 people including Lin Feng-hsi, executive director of the Central Taiwan Joint Services Center of the Executive Yuan, Legislator Yeh Chin-piao, elected representatives, and representatives of schools and civic groups.

(By Elizabeth Hsu)

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